Memory Inc. reads like a tragedy, but the results of Scoville's experiments are amazing, as is the current work being done by Memory Pharmaceuticals. By chance, Scoville discovered that the hippocampus is vital to the acquisition of new memories when he psychologically maimed a patient to cure his epilepsy. Since then, a great deal of research on the biological basis of memory has been conducted, and much has been learned. Currently, a company called Memory Pharmaceuticals is working on a drug that will enhance synapses in the brain to fortify and restore memories. The ethical, evolutional, and societal implications of such a drug are mind-boggling, but the possibility of such a drug even existing is amazing.
Chipped is the tale of Moniz, a horrible, ambitious man that ran around poking holes in people's brains to see what would happen. He's the father of psychosurgery, a practice outlawed in several countries and a few states. The present-day incarnation of psychosurgery is psycholpharmocology, whereby psychological disorders are treated with chemicals to alleviate their suffering. Both of these practices, despite their successes are very crude and lacking in specificity, and therefore, lacking in scientific evidence. The drugs we take and give to our children such as Zoloft, Prozac, Aderall, Ritalin, etc affect the brain in completely unknown ways. There has been little to no research done on the long-term effects of these medications, both physiological and psychological.
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